Reform, the right of centre think tank, has called for a bonfire of red tape to allow public services to perform effectively. The report sets out the findings from a commission set up by Reform which included a former top civil servant and two former New Zealand finance ministers. It makes the case that only radical reform will significantly improve the delivery of public service.The report argues that the NHS designed in an era of post war rationing is not capable of coping with today’s demands. It sets out a case for the replacement of central funding by health insurance. Although spending on the NHS has increased by a third since 1997, there has been little change in the number of patients treated. The report claims that up to a fifth of the NHS budget is lost through waste, fraud and inefficiency. In international comparisons, it shows that while there are some one million people awaiting treatment in the UK, France has no waiting list.

The way in which radical reform of the teaching profession promised by Ministers will be achieved is outlined in a consultation package on teacher support. The package sets out the role of support staff and defines standards for the new higher level teaching assistants. The aim is to allow teachers to spend more time teaching and motivating pupils so that they become ‘learning managers’. Learning will become more individualized allowing the more able to progress at a quicker pace while the less able are given greater support.The package includes a consultation document on the respective roles of support staff and teacher as well as a document on proposed standards for the higher level teaching assistants which has been developed by the Teacher Training Agency. The document makes it clear that teachers and teaching assistants are not interchangeable and that teachers must make the lead contribution to teaching and learning. Teaching assistants must operate under the direction and supervision of a qualified teacher.

By David Panter. Reproduced by permission of the Public Management and Policy Association. ‘Hard’ targets are the key lever to the delivery agenda, but they only measure the past. David Panter from his experience of managing Brighton and Hove Council argues that leadership and values are vital in delivering the future and he makes a plea for their inclusion as performance indicators.

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